When you start discovering the world of pencils, you find endless possibilities. It is fantastic that there is so much variety, but oftentimes it is a little confusing when it comes to purchase a set. Wax-based or oil-based? Hard or soft lead? You don’t know what to choose, because you don’t want to buy something unnecessary than ends up at the bottom of a drawer. There are many brands out there, and one of them is Derwent. Derwent is an English prestigious brand with over a century of history that produces all sort of art supplies, colouring pencils included. But apparently, it is not so simple as to buy the first colouring pencils set that you come across with: Studio, Coloursoft, Procolour, Artists and many more. And then, the question arises: what is the difference among the different Derwent series?

Apparently, they look the same, and the reference sites not always make it clear. You would think that the only way to find out is by purchasing different sets and comparing them, but it is better to buy a product when you know its specific function and you know that it is the ideal one for you.

This entry will try to offer some help on this department. In order to write this article, I have checked several sites, including Derwent official and The pencil topics.

DERWENT ARTISTS

This is the oldest Derwent series. It is also the one with the biggest colour palette, which expanded through the years, reaching the 120 colours in 1990. However, because it is the oldest series, it has a low lightfastness. These pencils are ideal to work on layers and to be blended to create new colours.

DERWENT STUDIO

These pencils are hexagonal, which prevent them from rolling on the table, and give them a better gripping. The colour palette includes 72 tones that can be blended. This series is good for little details, especially botanical art or technical drawing. The colours support several layers.

Both Derwent Artists and Derwent Studio are the best series to work on hard surfaces such as cardboard or watercolour paper. They can be sharpened to a fine point, which makes them ideal for details, especially for natural illustrations. Both series have a good and varied colour chart, they are almost parallel and have similar colours, with the difference of Artists has a bigger colour chart, 4 mm leads and rounded barrels. On the other hand, Studio has 72 tones, hexagonal barrels and 3,4 mm leads. Both series are good and continue to be the favourite of many artists, but it is good to remember that their lightfastness is low.

DERWENT DRAWING

Available in 24 colours, this series is thought for natural landscapes. Their colours are vivid, and the colour chart includes many brown tones which are ideal to draw animal fur or feathers. It includes several sepia tones for portraits and natural life. Drawing pencils are resistant to light and they work fine on harder papers.

DERWENT COLOURSOFT

This is one of the most popular series of Derwent. It features 72 soft colours of smooth texture, ideal to cover big areas quickly on a paper. These pencils have vibrant colours that can be blended easily, achieving different shades with them. Greys and brown tones are light-resistant, but the paler tones are more exposed to fade. Special care has to be applied when sharpening these pencils, because the point cannot get as fine as the one in the other series. They use up quickly and spread some crumbs during colouring. Their 8 mm lead doesn’t fit in all sharpeners. Coloursoft is the most similar alternative to Prismacolor.

DERWENT PROCOLOUR

This line was launched in 2017, so it is one of the newest. It is available in 72 tones and combines the best from the Artists and the Coloursoft lines (a strong point and blending applications). These pencils are accurate but smooth, with a clean touch. Procolour has the capacity of blending colours and to work on different types of papers. Their colours can be blended with all kind of tools, including paper cones and blenders. Their light resistance is its weak point, because only 30 of the colours in the palette have a good lightfast degree. Procolour pencils can be sharpened to a fine point with a powerful sharpener, and they don’t spread crumbs when being pressed against the paper. The colours of this series are somewhat different from the Coloursoft ones, so a combination of both will produce over 100 different tones. Procolour tones aren’t however as bright as those from the Coloursoft line, but they have a best final touch, so they are ideal for working together. While being an improved version of the Artists and Studio pencils, they don’t possess a meaningful lightfast degree.

DERWENT LIGHTFAST

This is the ultimate Derwent line, launched during the summer of 2018, and Derwent’s answer to the loyal artists of this brand, always willing to listen to them to improve their products. Lightfast is initially presented in 36 colours, which will expand as the rest of the colours pass the lightfast test. It is the first time that Derwent launches an oil-based pencil, and yet, this pencil has a soft and creamy texture, which is improved when using some solvent. The lightfast colours are guaranteed to last 100 years under museum conditions. Their strongest points are detailed drawing and layering.

DERWENT ACADEMY

This series belongs to the novice category (not professional) and thus, it is the most economical line. It is featured in 36 colours that can be blended, allowing to create new tones. They are made of natural wood and contain quality pigments that are transferred to the paper quickly and evenly. They are ideal for colouring and illustrating. The Academy line is also available in watercolour version (but those are hexagonal) and in other artistic modalities such as pastels or oils.

DERWENT WATERCOLOUR

This is the watercolour pencils series. They can be used on their own or blended with other pencils to create new tones and work on layers. Watercolour series is available in 72 colours and is suitable for any kind of artistic work. The colours are not permanent so, when the colour is dry, water can be applied again to draw on top. Watercolour pencils have been produced and updated for many years, the last update being in 2009. While the pencil barrel is hexagonal and is painted on dark blue, the older versions had a rounded barrel and they were painted on turquoise. The old series had a low lightfast degree and a medium hardness, while the new one has better lightfastness and their leads are softer. Watercolour pencils have a good browns and greens palette, but their week point is their colours don’t work so well on wet surfaces, leaving clots. This can be fixed by applying the colour first and adding the water later. It is important to keep these pencils out of hot sources because these pencils tend to break with the heat.

DERWENT INKTENSE

One of the most attractive lines of Derwent is Inktense, which must not be confused with the Watercolour line. These are not watercolour pencils, but soluble ink. Derwent Inktense pencils have vivid colours and can be used dry, but once water is applied to them, the colours become permanent. This enables us to draw on top, and they can be applied on cotton and silk.
Permanent, however, doesn’t mean resistant: this series still has a few colours which are not light-resistant, although not so many.

DERWENT GRAPHITINT

These watercolour pencils are available in 24 tones and combine graphite and colour in a single pencil, gathering the creativity of the graphite pencil with a subtle colour touch. When used dry, Graphitint barely show any colour but, if we apply water, the colour comes out and become vibrant. The original Graphitint formula had a low lighftasness, but lately it has been updated, and now only 4 colours are non-resistant. A downside is that the Graphitint colour chart is too dark: brighter tones are missed.

DERWENT METALLIC

The Metallic series (also available in watercolour version) includes 12 special tones to work on dark paper or for crafts. They are an ideal gift or to be used as hobby pencils. The metallic colours really seem to jump out the paper once applied.

DERWENT PASTEL PENCILS

This is the Derwent pastel pencils line and it also has a watercolour alternative. They are available in 72 colours in a tin and in 90 colours in a wooden box. They blend well and they don’t smudge.

And that makes the whole Derwent coloured pencil lines. Best prices can of course be found in Amazon UK, since this brand is from England.

Academy | Metallic | Watercolour | Inktense | Drawing | Artists
Pastel | Graphitint| Coloursoft | Procolour | Studio | Lightfast

Hope this entry was useful. 🙂